EICC pairings and information

Ιστορική μέρα για το σκάκι ήταν η15η Μαρτίου 2012 μιας και 415 ευρωβουλευτές υπέγραψαν κοινή δήλωση με την οποίαζητούν από την κομισιόν και τις Ευρωπαϊκές χώρες να εντάξουν το σκάκι στα σχολεία.«Το σκάκι αναγνωρίζεται...

An interesting question is in how one should go about beating weaker opponents. It’s actually a very difficult one with many players getting it wrong. I’ve seen a lot of upsets happen when the higher rated player took too many liberties in the expectation that his opponent would make a mistake. I think that the [...]

The 10th Chess Festival Sagaalgan 2012 was held on 16-18th March at the Buddhist University in Ivolginsky datsan, near Ulan-Ude in the Russian Republic of Buryatia. The 13-round rapid tournament was a stage of the Rapid Grand Prix of Russia. An impressive number of 458 players participated. Grandmaster Pavel Maletin (2586) from Novosibirsk took a [...]

Την Κυριακή 18 Μαρτίου ο πρόεδρος της ΕΣΣΠ κ. Διαμάντης και το μέλος του Δ.Σ της ΕΣΣΠ κ. Σιέμπος φιλοξενήθηκαν στην εκπομή της δημοσιογράφου του Patra TV, Ρούλας Στίγκα «ΠΑΜΕ ΓΗΠΕΔΟ» με αφορμή την διοργάνωση των ομαδικών...

Michael Adams was the hero of the hour as Baden-Baden scored what should be a decisive victory in their quest to retain the Bundesliga title. Adams was the only winner in a 4.5-3.5 victory for Baden-Baden over their nearest rivals Bremen.

Michael Adams was the hero of the hour as Baden-Baden scored what should be a decisive victory in their quest to retain the Bundesliga title. Adams was the only winner in a 4.5-3.5 victory for Baden-Baden over their nearest rivals Bremen.

Not even the financial crisis has been enough to kill the Ciudad de Leon, one of the very few top tournaments that have been held for 25 consecutive years. Veselin Topalov and Paco Vallejo will play six rapid games at the Auditorium on 8-10th June. “Let’s be clear: Topalov and Vallejo have accepted to come [...]

Like the preceding post, this one features a game where one of the players - a professional player, again - makes what can only be described as an odd opening choice. In Nielsen's case (last post), it allowed his lower-rated opponent at least an immediate draw with the black pieces; in this game, Vitaly Kunin allowed his opponent to win by following an earlier high-level game all the way to a...

This past weekend there was a very odd little game played in the Bundesliga between Peter-Heine Nielsen and Tomi Nyback. It was interesting and hard fought, but what made it odd was the choice of opening. Nielsen chose an anti-Gruenfeld line that led Cmilyte to a winning position against Lahno (though not a win - the game was drawn) in Wijk aan Zee earlier this year, but (a) the game was featured...

Ένα χάπι σε κάνει μεγαλύτερο κι ένα χάπι σε κάνει τόσο δα μικρούλη κι αυτά που σου δίνει η μάνα σου δεν κάνουν απολύτως τίποτα Τράβα να ρωτήσεις την Αλίκη όταν είναι ψηλή δέκα πόδια κι όταν πας να κυνηγήσεις κουνέλια και...

The European Women's Rapid Championship was won by Tatiana Kosintseva (Valentina Gunina won both the Classical and Blitz events), but the game that most caught my attention was a King's Indian between Mariya Muzychuk and Anastasia Bodnaruk. Have a look!

It may be an open tournament, but the European Individual Chess Championship is an extremely strong event with 15 players rated over 2700, including world #6 Fabiano Caruana. (But shouldn't he be in the U.S. Championship instead??) This 11-round Swiss starts today in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, has a rest day on the 26th, and concludes March 31.

The title is a bit too strong, as Ken Regan's program can certainly provide strong statistical support (or disconfirmation) for accusations of cheating, but not proof. Nevertheless, it's a useful tool with some nice fringe benefits (intrinsic performance ratings, for example, offer a comparatively objective metric for comparing past and present players). Read all about it in this New York Times...

This time our trip to Iceland was more relax. As Gawain mentioned in his last post, we both flew over early to play in the Icelandic chess league. Its size and depth is amazing for such a small country. I always feel at home in Iceland, even if the weather is greyer and colder then [...]